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Rainbow on Arcade to become Cub Foods

The Rainbow Foods on Arcade Street will become a Cub Foods within the next 60 days. The store was bought by Twin Cities-based SuperValu Foods. (Patrick Larkin/Review)

Roundy’s is jumping ship on the Minnesota grocery market, the company announced May 7.

The company, which owns the local Rainbow Foods stores, cites a tough economy and a competitive local grocery market as reasons for the exit, according to a press release.

As a result, the Rainbow Foods grocery store at 892 Arcade St. will be bought by Twin Cities-based SuperValu Foods in the next 60 days, and the East Side will have a third Cub Foods.

SuperValu, along with Lunds and three other local grocery store chains, will buy 18 Twin Cities Rainbows from its competitor. SuperValu will turn 10 of them into Cub Foods stores, while some will remain Rainbows and others will be converted into Byerly’s, according to a Supervalu press release.

Jeff Swanson, spokesperson for SuperValu, said the changeovers will happen quickly once the purchases go through. It will be a simple swapping of signage and a restocking of shelves, he said.

“We understand grocery stores are an important part of people’s communities, and people are passionate about their neighborhood store,” Swanson explained.

Swanson added that the stores will eventually undergo aggressive remodeling.

Another nine Roundy’s stores are not yet spoken for -- the company is actively seeking buyers for those locations.

Cub Foods corporate leaders spent the day of the announcement meeting with store employees at the 18 Rainbow stores to talk about the upcoming changes. The company said it will hire about 1,000 employees in the next couple months.

Swanson said Cub is looking for people passionate about food and customer service.

If current Rainbow employees have those qualities, “we encourage them to apply,” he added.

Aaron Sorenson, spokesperson for Lund Food Holdings, Inc., said the company will acquire three Rainbow stores, including one on Valley Creek Road in Woodbury that will be turned into a Byerly’s. The company will also acquire the adjacent liquor store at the Woodbury location.

Although the Woodbury store is only 3.7 miles from the Byerly’s on Suburban Avenue in St. Paul, Sorenson said the St. Paul store will remain open after the Woodbury Byerly’s opens.